The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 23, 1899, Page 30

30 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 23 18 L R 1 e vl o i HERE is no sclentific problem of more complex in its e century ture and more bafing to all at- te at solution than that pre- sented by the rec change of at- e of 1 it rion and Professor Hyslop toward is ordi- c phenom- known as spiritu n, the fa French as- tronomer who two ye after years of extrs emises—have anged places. who after his con- nstrumentality of » to the world nu- merot as firmly be- lieved were written the guldance of a decea er c unicating with him name of Lumen’’ through a med whom he had the greatest fa n nnounced unequivo- caily that he h ne back to his pre- ho has been nced skeptic in was only by much ntenance the supernatural ng a mem- Research, ment an- f that the grave, and departed are not almost nounced his ¢ there 1 1 s a 1 of these firmament being men f position hat they rctions, wn honest co by any mater r. th real effe humanity is forever s vain effort to tronomer, which considered a e bee Cam world geven yea thoo place in draw mastery of he reached the c several series of lect which attracted the a the entir o f the upper ill mendation c It was he w ticabilit study of g aps use atmos way: ile ooks on v nomical subjects are used as guldes many other renowned students of th wonders of the firmament. Practical as was and is his strict] fessional career, Flammarion ha: been peculiarly drawn toward the r of mysticism and speculation. Of a tem- perament almost Oriental in its charac- teristics, he from childhood was possessed <ol Q i CAMILLE FLAMMARION, THE ¢ { CELEBRATED FRENCH AS- ; { TRONOMER, FOR YEARS A ! i PILLAR OF MODERN SPIR- i ! ITUALISM, GOES BACK TO } ! HIS FORMER SKEPTICISM. P A A e e e ) by a vague vearning after the seemingly unknowable in life here and hereafter. Strangely enough, though, he never al- lowed his temperame 1 desires to influ- ence or cl ment His self- recognition s mystical tendencles made him, i rly discrimi- nating under all circum- star to the other side of his dual n Rarnestly ing beyond the knowledge, he v & always.of journey- mit of ordinary human insisted upon going every step of the way upon solld ground and with his very bright and observing eves wide open. He was always seeking {nformation and looking for new light, but the slightest shadow of fraud or hy- poc his peculfar inv ch experiences » Monsieur F only more than desir- BANK DEFUNCT FOR TWENTY VEARS PAYS DEBTS AND LARGE DIVIDENDS. ORE than twenty years ago the Third National B 1 tormally closed its doors a receiver was appointed. day this stock is held at nearly double its par value; and it is regarded as “gilt-edged” security. Witk in five years, although the b has r celved no deposits, made no loans, issued no currency, sold no drafts, it h two substantial dividends to its holders and promises many more over, it is unique in being a corpo having large assets no labilitie bevond the obligation to its stockholders. The circumstances which led up to these peculiar, even unprecedented con- ditions, make a story probably without arallel in the annals of national bank- ng. the Third M rior_to the panic of 18 of the stanch tional Bank ranked as or est financial institutions in the W It had a capitalization o ) 000 1 its di- rectory included some of the most prom- inent names in Chicago—such —men George M. Pullman, J. Irving Pearce, J seph Medill, C. H. Curtis, C. M. Hender- son, C. R. Steele, John H. Thompson, Willlam T. Allen and S. S. Benjami When the finan of 1873 w its height the Third National pended payment for a single week as a recaution against a _threatened Rhen it opened again and prepared to r sume its old place in the business world But a bank Is like a man. It is trusted implicitly until it reveals some inherent weakness. The Third National Bank had the finest officers in Chicago, the largest force of clerks, the longest list of country corre- spondents, but it also had the single slip from the path of financial rectitude to live away. Some of its officers, knowing the need of unusual efforts to’ maintain its business supremacy, signed the bonds of the Treasurer of Cook County, thereby Teceiving large deposits of the public money to swell the quarterly reports. The bank also appeared as the main deposi- tory of a Board of Park Commissioners, of ‘which its president had become the treasurer. Other bankers. looking on, saw the signs and understood them. In 1873 the deposits exceeded $4.000,000, but they kept creeping down until late in 1877 they were only $1,164,000. In September, 1877, an extensive hotel property owned by President Pearce and one of the other directors was destroyed by fire. It had no connection with the bank, and vet the bank felt the shock. A few weeks later President Pearce called on the New York correspondent of his bank and asked for & temporary loan to be used in case the heavy deposits of the next morning this epitaph appeared on the bank door: THIS BANK IS CLOSED. Wheat fell 2 cents, pork 10 cents, and the markets in the Board of Trade closed weak. n the condition of The earliest report the bank, made by Colonel Huntington W. public money should be withdrawn sud- denl nd the New York bank hesitated and hedged. On President Pearce he founc < return to Chicago he directors of the which might be In spite of the loss of confidence, there was no regular run on the bank, and yet it was suffering from a wasting disease tnown to financiers as a st pocket run.”” Deposito: out their money and it was not replaced. A St. Louis paper printed a brief telegram hinting at the condition of the bank and every mail brought drafts that helped to drain its reserve. One the County Treasurer gave notice t he would t a_half milllon dollars. He was very agreeable about it, but he must have the money. He, too, had heard the rumors and he must protect himself, A half-million dollars is a very large sum of money to ask instantly from any I s reserve cash. The officers of the Third National Bank ran here and there for help, thereby spreading the odium of their distress. The First National Bank, fearing a general financial disaster, eed to lend a helping hand if the Union National Bank would do the same. The Union National Bank, after question- ing and delaying, agreed by its president, W. F. Coolbaugh, to _advance $300.000 in case of emergency. With this money and other promised assistance, President Pearce was sure that he could make his bank stand any strain. The First Na- tional Bank was ready to do anything in its power—it only awaited a formal re- quest, Other banks also expressed their friendliness. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the borrowed monev was to be deliv- ered on November 14. That morning Pres- ident Coolbaugh was found dead at the foot of the Douglas monument with a bul- let hole in his temple. His bank, fearing for Its own safety, refused to advance the romised money. The First National Bank followed its example. New York lon, since_had refused & friendly hand—ang the Third Natfonal Bank found itself deeper than ever in the meshes of mis- fortune. About this time the Park Commission- ers discovered suddenly that there was a large block of bonds not vet due which they could pay. Of course they wished to save the interest—and they withdrew more than $200,000 all in one day. On October 1 the bank had cash re- sources amounting to $966,580 with total TWO MEN OF SCENCE SUDDENLY CHANGE HEIR VIEWS—WHY', not until Eusapia earance in the a¥ he declared him- ous for it, but it Paladino made her no was a small trades- residing in Naples in the early part of the present decade. She was an fllfterate person, unable to read or write, and with absolutely no ideas outside the dull routine of her small business and woman dally life, but she developed, quite unas. sisted, an apparently mediumistic power which made her for some years one of greatest wonders of the age. e was a woman of ordinary appear- ance, rather small, of dark complexion, 40 years of age, and of somewhat phleg- matic te rerament A woman neither brill of intellect nor even commonly educ vet managed to utterly con- fuse a le some of the most eminent cientists of our century, such as Lom- broso, Schiaparelll, Darfeux, Charles Richet and the Comte de Rochas, and on Flammarion at @ Seance With the Famous Medium Eusapia Paladino. make a complete convert of the eminent and previously Invincible Camille Flam- marion. In company with and the two daught and M. Koechlin, Flammarion attended a seance given in the Bleck parlors by Eusepfa, who was their guest at the time. The Blecks were earnest searchers after M. and Mme. Bleck of M. de Fontenay truth and very anxious to observe the medium’s manifestations in s il and under circumstances which would preclude any possibility of the woman receiving the siightest as ance in her work from any material ou ide source. During this meeting the edium sat at the end of a common kitchen table be- tween M. mmarion and M. de Fonte- nay, M. Bleck and his two daughters oc- while Mme. Bleck on ofa facing cupying the other and Mme. Kocchlin , about six feet the tab away. At the end of three minutes the table moved. minute later it rose entirel off the floor and remained for two secor suspended inches above it. Two fla light photographs taken on the instant show that this was an actual fact and not a physical or mental illusion. During the evening Flammarion felt a hand passing through his hair, his chair was violently pulled and shaken and his ear: harply pinched. The table at the conclusion of the seance was in full light, raised twenty inches from the floor %and remained suspended for five seconds. As Flammarion kept his right hand on Eusapia's knees and held her left hand in his left while his feet were placed firm- 1y on hers and M. de Fontenay held her right hand he was firmly convinced that here at last was a medium who had some just claim to that appellation, since it seemed unquestionable that she had some- P o o S o e i e R SR SR SO SO A e WHILE PROFESSOR HYSLOP, : A HARD-HEADED MAN OF : SCIENCE, FROM YOUTH A : PRONOUNCED SKEPTIC, : TAKING UP THE CAUSE : FIRM BELIEVER.: S A s e e S e TURNS [ R e o o o o B o 8 thing besides natural forces at her com- mand In writing of this evening's experience afterward he summed up his impressions and convictions as follows “I believe we can affirm the undoubted existence of unknown forces capable of moving matter and of counteracting an action of gtavity. Ttisa combination dif- ficult to analyze of physical and psychie forces. But such facts, however extrava- gant they may appear, deserve to enter the domain of scientific investigation, and it is even probable that they may power- fully contribute toward the elucidation of the problem—for us supreme—of the na- ture of the human soul.” This seance was but the beginning of a eeries which led Flammarion graduaily but surely from the foregoing qualified admission of the existence of supernor- mal powers to not only a firm belief in the existence and consciousness of the goul after death, but an equally firm be- llef in the possibility of the soul’s return to the plane of this world and its power to communicate more or less directly with still living beings. In fact, Flammarion became a spirit- ualist of the most advanced and earnest type, and although he was subjected to The Table Rose From the Floor and Remained Suspended for Two Seconds. the severest cr large for his cha indeed ridiculed by sm by the world at ge of opinion and was many, he persisted in declaring that he had at last found the truth and was content with it. He be- came a member of the English Society for Psychical Research and organized a circle, or investigation soclety, of seven- teen members, all men of his own natlon- ality and of high social or scientific standing. He carried his spiritual beliefs and theories into the practicalities of his life also. for after his conversion he wrote several books which he stated were really the dictated works of disembodied spiri All cf them, howeve were of such a ture as to add to Flam on’s own repu- tation as scholar and a thinker in the estimation even of those who regarded with disfavor his spiritua views and declarations. And now, after spent in the quiet harbor of satisfying nd happy belief; after vears spent in endeavoring to induce other storm-tossed mariners on the raging ocean of Doubt to come and anchor be- side him, Camille Flammarion has put up sails and gone straight out to sca again. J He has discovered, he says, that the harbor was full hoals and hidden rocks. and that he was utterly deceived by the pilots who towed his bark there- to. There is no safety there, he atfirms, but instead are dangers worse than those of the open main, however stormy, be- cause they are secret and hidden under the deceitful smoothness of treacherously quiet waters. He had found flaws in the ostensible communications from the other wosld, and while he does not dispute the sxist- ence of all occult phenomena he gives no further credence to the assertion that spirits come back to earth and comm cate with the living. Mediumis clares to be but a form of cl acting upon the sub-conscious mind of the questioner after spiritual facts, an some mediums may be unconscious of t and perfectly honest personally the sertions which they make as to their pernatural powers are all untrue. As he made public his conversion to the belief in spirit existence, return and com munication, so he has made public later conviction that it was all a wretcied mistake on his part, and that he was de- celved or deceived himself through it a Camille Flammarion has become a s itualistic apostate. SRR ST e i S The case of Professor Hyslop 1s of a dtametrically opposite nature. He was and is neither a dreamer nor a dwell among stars, nor an enthusiast in anv line. He is a plain, practical, everyday American, except that he is possessed (£ an_exceptionally brilliant and investiga- tive mind and has been fortunate enough to have every advantage of education and environment necessary to cultivate it to its highest capacity. Always skeptical of everything which was not susceptible of material demon- stration, did not agree with known nat- ural laws, or honestly own that its only foundation for existence was stmple faith, Professor Hyslop decided some time sincs to join the American Society for Psychical Research, his motive seeming to be at the time to lend his best endeavors to the unmasking of charlatanry and the ex- posing of what he considered the auda- cious humbug of spiritual seances. Being an earnest man in all things, Pro- fessor Hyslop devoted himself indefat- igably to the work he had taken up, and soon became one of the most executive and efficient members of the organization in the work of which all the civilized world is deeply interested. His attitude of mind was such that he could not be easily deceived even by the most expert tricksters. But at last Professor Hyslop, like his distinguished fellow searchers after facts beyond the seas, discovered a medium who met and refuted all his ob- jections to the belief of which she is the exponent, and made him a convert .hers- to. What Eusapia Paladino was to Camille Flammarion, Mrs. Piper of Bos- ton now is to Professor Hyslop. She is his Moses, leading him out of the wilder- ness of skepticism into the happy land of certainty and peace. Mrs. Piper herself enjoys the distine- tlon of being one of the most phenomenal mediums of the century. She is what ts known as a “trance” medium, and has so far shown extraordinary powers in her own peculiar line. In the early yvears of her trances her volce was usually con- trolled by a personality who went under the self-given name of “Doctor Prinuit,” but r some time past she has seemed independent of his influence and different persons have spoken through her in a manner to puzzle even the most stubborn of unbelievers. The communications recetved through Mrs. Piper, which have been of the most value, are ostensibly from George Pe hem, at one time an enthusiastic member of the Psychical Research Society, who met an accidental and instantaneous death in the city of New York in Febru- ary 1892. He was a lawyer by training, but devoted himself chiefly to literatur and philosophy. Boston had been his home during nearly all his lifetime, but for the three years just preceding his death he had been a resident of New York. Always interested, as all intelligent per- sons are, in the question of possible fu- ture life, young Pelham—he was but 32 when he was killed—often discussed the matter with his friends, always, how- ever: taking the position that such a hy- pothesis was not only incredible, but in- concelvable. About two years previous to his decease, however, he made a solemn vow that If he dled before his friend Dr. Hodgson and found himself “still ex- isting” he would certainly return, if it were possible, and let him know the truth of the matter. That promise Dr. Hodgson and Pro- fessor Hyslop, and many others who wers previously anti-spiritualists, firmly belleve he kept four weeks after his sudden tak- ing off, and has been keeping ever since. On March 22, 1882, while Dr. Hodgson and Mr. James Hart, a warm personal friend of the dead lawyer, were sitting with Mrs. Piper, she began to speak with the voice of George Pelham, and after greeting them warmly proceeded to de- clare in the strongest terms the fact of an after existence and explained the man- ner in which he awakened to its reality. Later Professor Hyslop, also a friend of Mr. Pelham, received communications from him which have had the effect of uprooting the convictions of a lifetime, and have brought him into the positive belief that the actual spirit of the lawyer has\been able to return and has told him jmportant truths concerning the world beyvond this. The medium while in her trances has shown the most perfect and intimate knowledge of the life of George Pelham, and has always recognized persons at her sittings who are utter strangers to her- self but who had known or met George Pelham in life, calling them instantly by their names and telling them of circum- nces known only to themselves and him. Every friand of Pelham who has talked with her under these circum- ances has been entirely satisfied that is his own active personality which carries on the conversation. Professor Hyslop, astonishing as the whole affair was to him, was not easily persuaded of its scientific truth. He at- tended Mrs. Piper's seances from time to time for a period of several vears, and always in an interrogative and doubting rather than a receptive spirit. But at last his prejudices have been conquered and his determined will vanquished. He has become convinced not only of the pos- v, but of the certainty of a spiritual existence and of direct spiritual commun- ication, and he declares that henceforth his mission Is to be to spread with tongua and pen the knowledge that has come to him so clearly and frrefutably, and has brought with it so much of solace and of joy. Professor Hyslop, the thinker and edu- cator, has found and rejoices over what Camille Flammarion, tne scientist, has cast aside as worthless. Which of them has made the mistake and why? The world looks dispassion- ately on them both and wonders. . assets of $3,910,891. By November 21 the cash had shriveled away to 903 and the total resources to $2,742,907. On November 21 the Clearing House Assocjation wrote its death warrant, and Jackson, showed that the nominal assets ‘were about $1,800,000 and the debts were nearly $1,000,000, leaving a nominal $800,000 to pay the stock liability of §750,000. On paper this lagked most encouraging, but a close examination showed that there was too much “slow” paper and not enough “short.” Of the real estate, one tract of a hun- dred acres lay on a barren sand ridge near the lake shore and nearly ten miles south- east of the City Hall. Another tract of forty-five acres was nearly as far to the west of the city on the bare flat prairle, ‘where there was little prospect of its ever belng anything more than a cabbage atch. Still another piece of property lay ar out in the southwestern portion of the city, and it seemed to some of the ninety stockholders that it would hardly pay the bank to retaln its property and meet the expenses of management. But the receiver was a man of wide resources and unbounding faith, and had fajth in Chicago. Three months after the closing of the bank—on Janury 381, 1878—the depositors received a dividend of 45 per cent. A month later 10 per cent more was paid, and before the close of 1879 35. per cent more had been distributed, and the re- ceiver managed to pay two other divi- dends of b per cent each before the close of 1881, thus returning to the depositors the face value of their claims. A year later they received their interest in full and the stockholders were left, neariy five years after the close of the bank, with a score of pleces of expensive real es- tate, most of which had comparatively little present cash value, and a quantity of doubtful claims and costly lawsuits, the legacy of the panic. At the time of the bank’s failure Chi- cago's population scarcely exceeded 400,- 000, and there was no reason for arguing that in twenty years’ time it would be the second city in the country, with a popula- tion of more than 1,700,000, with real estate appreciated in value on a scale commen- surate with the growth of the city. In July, 1891, the receiver made the stockholders an offer of $1,000,000 for the despised 100 acres of land, and the stock- holders rejected it. In a manner hardly less remarkable the forty-five-acre cab- bage patch became valuable. Car lines passed it, the suburb of Oak Park grew out around it, and every year has added thousands of dollars to its value. Under the receiver’s care the bank has been as marvelously fortunate as it was unfortunate while it was still in the hands of the directory. £ In 1863 the receiver 'was able to pay a dividend of 10 per cent. to the stockhold- ers, and he followed it in 1895 with a sec- ond dividend of 5 per cent. ‘When the receiver had finished the pay- ment of the liabilities of the bank the law required him to resign in favor of an agent who should dispose of the remaining ssets of the bank and divide the proceeds among the stockholders. But the stockholders had confidence in the receiver, and wanted him retained in the management of the business. A com- mittee appeared before Congress during President Harrison's administration and succeeded in getting the banking law changed so that the receiver could conw tinue to manage the affairs of the bank And thus, by a combination of good fortune, shrewd management and pa- tience, the Third National Bank now pr gents the spectacle, probably unequaled in finance. of a business institution for twenty years defunct and yet paying divi- c‘l;lxlx‘l; on stock worth nearly twice its par